1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a single lens reflex type electronic imaging apparatus capable of selecting a first observation mode in which a subject image can optically be observed via an optical finder and a second observation mode in which the subject image can be shot with an image pickup device to electrically observe the image via a monitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technology is known in which a position of a person's face is detected from image data obtained by an image pickup device.
For example, in an imaging apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-107335, the position of the face of the person as a subject is detected from the image data obtained by an image pickup device such as a CCD, and this position is selected as a distance measurement area to perform an auto focusing operation (the AF operation).
In an imaging apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-107555, the position of the face of the person as the subject is detected from the image data obtained by an image pickup device such as the CCD, and this position is selected as a light metering area to perform an automatic exposure adjustment operation (the AE operation) for determining exposure conditions.
In an imaging apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-309225, attribute data (a position, a direction, a scale, a pause, etc.) of the face is detected from the image data obtained from an image pickup device such as the CCD, and the attribute data is recorded together with the image data in a recording medium, so that the attribute data can be used.
On the other hand, as an observation mode of the subject in the electronic imaging apparatus, it is known that an optical finder is used, or an image obtained by the image pickup device is displayed in a monitor.
For example, a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-333064 includes two observation modes of a first observation mode capable of observing the subject by use of the optical finder and a second observation mode capable of observing the image data obtained from the image pickup device via a display monitor.
The second observation mode described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-333064 is generally referred to as live view display or through image display. The live view display is a standard function mounted on most of compact cameras which are digital cameras other than the DSLR. In the DSLR, the live view display is not the standard function, but this function is supposed to be standard in the same manner as in the compact camera in future.
Moreover, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2003-107335 and 2003-107555, a compact camera is already commercially available in which during the live view display, a characteristic point (the face) of the person is detected using an image recognition algorithm, and the AF operation, the AE operation and the like are controlled based on the detection result. Since such functions are mounted, even a user who is unaccustomed to a camera operation can focus on the person to take a picture with an exposure adjusted on the person.